Perkins+Will, in partnership with BK Partners (The Conformity Corporation, The Peebles Corporation, and Stantec Architecture and Engineering), will provide urban planning and architectural design for one of the largest and most culturally significant community development initiatives in the country: the remaking of the Brooklyn neighborhood in Charlotte’s Second Ward. A once thriving, vibrant African American community—settled in the late 1800s and home to the first black grade school in the country—Brooklyn was demolished and all but erased from the map of Charlotte as part of the city’s “urban renewal” program of the 1960s. The new Brooklyn Village, as it is called, will be erected on the same 17-acre area and will celebrate the original neighborhood’s rich cultural history.
The site plan includes the design of a nearly two-acre public park that is centrally located at the “heart” of the development. This energetic, vibrant space features art work recalling the many churches lost to demolition and installations that celebrate the original configuration of Brooklyn. It also includes a main “artery” called Myers Passage, an active pedestrian corridor that extends through and unifies the overall development. Through a deliberate and purposeful reconnection of the historic city grid, Myers Passage pays homage to the vibrant neighborhood that once existed by following the alignments of the original Myers Street axis.

The vertical development will occur in several phases. As part of the first two phases, Perkins+Will will design a 238,675 GSF ten story building and penthouse with 105,800 SF of office and 129,500 SF of above grade parking. This early work also include a 84,900 GSF single four story building with 12,200 SF of retail, 68,300 SF of office, and 2,700 SF of cultural space.